


Ashes, Ashes

by magicitself



Series: Ashes, Ashes (We All Fall Down) [1]
Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Gen, M/M, Multi, aka the preface to the series anyway, pairings will be many and mostly just hinted at. nothing actually established, please read author's note, that or its the preface. i haven't made up my mind yet
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-01-16
Updated: 2014-01-17
Packaged: 2018-01-08 23:55:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,541
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1138985
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/magicitself/pseuds/magicitself
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There’s no mistaking it - what happened back at AH Farms was undeniable, and it had shifted the dynamic of everything they knew, a shift that was brought back to Achievement City and festered to a hungry, greedy parasitic life.</p>
<p>There was fear, pungent in the air and stinking up the place.</p>
<p>So when Ryan came to him, eyes glinting bright like the sword in his hand and the giant throne room looming behind him, the gold blocks gleaming bright like a beacon (calling to them), Michael only grinned.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Mad And His Warrior

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! First time posting my writing here on AO3. Which is pretty amazing, considering I've had this account for about a year and a half now. This fic was pretty much inspired by the King Let's Plays and all the fantastic fanart I've seen on tumblr about it. It's a _little_ bit of a Kings!verse, but not quite? It's its own little thing, honestly. This is the preface to the entire series. The way it's set up is a little weird. The beginning is in the past, the ending in the present. The next part will be set in the past for its entirety. Let me know what you guys think.

  
A hysteric giggle poured from Michael’s mouth in a slightly nervous titter.

_What had he done?_

“They’re all dead,” He whispered, feeling a bit like he’d finally cracked, enough for the flood waters to come leaking through in an uneven staccato and setting a precedence for the future of what was to come.

_What had he **done**?_

“They’re all dead!” He hissed, louder, and there was silence over on the other end from his teammates, but Michael only heard a constant buzzing beneath it all, one he couldn’t shake.

_Oh. That’s what._

( Later, when he would frantically try to scrub himself free of the blood and forget the shrieks of pain he’d caused, Ryan would come up to him from behind and place a heavy but jarringly comforting hand on his shoulder.

“I’m proud of you, Michael.” He’d say, satisfaction dripping heavy from his voice, and Michael would try to ignore the feeling of foreboding in the pit of his stomach.

The buzzing in his head grew louder and he went to sleep in his blood stained clothing, forgetting what he’d ever been worried about. )

 

* * *

 

The next time it happens, Michael is past the point of caring. “I don’t want to see Ryan kill the kid,” Jack whines, eyes sad as he cringes.

Ryan laughs easily, shrugging. “I don’t even have a weapon, so I can’t even do it.” He replies, and everyone lets out a sigh of relief. Nobody had wanted to see Ryan kill the kittens, even though it had to be done by all of them sooner or later.

“I can do it for you if you want, Ryan.”

The air becomes tense as Michael’s voice crackles over the radio com, hints of hesitance easily masked by his nonchalance and eagerness.

There’s a followed moment of silence on all ends and Michael becomes frustrated, that incessant buzzing in his head refusing to die down in the face of the quiet.

“Just order me to do it already, Ryan.” He says, more forcefully, but it sounds more like a plea than anything. He needs Ryan to get the hint.

“You wanna do it?” Ryan asks after a moment, and the way he says it lets Michael know that he caught the hint, heard what Michael wasn’t saying out loud but offering in secret. Michael almost gives a sigh of relief of his own, this time.

He smiles, glad he no longer needs to fight, only obey.

“Yeah.”

The buzzing in his head is already dying down, thank God.

He’s already on his way, hopping over a dirt block and into Ryan’s designated farming area when Ryan’s voice comes through the communicator, loud and clear and even a little smug.

“Michael,” He says, firmly, a hint of laughter bubbling beneath it. “Let it be done.”

 

* * *

 

For weeks after, Jack doesn’t speak to him.

Ray jokes with him every so often, but its stilted and strained in nature, and Gavin’s silence is deafening with his avoidance, its unusuality not lost on Michael but not particularly a problem he cares too much about at this point, either.

Geoff keeps his distance, eyes wary and calculating whenever he sees Michael alongside Ryan, and if there’s a hint of a quiver and shaking, no one comments.

There’s no mistaking it - what happened back at AH Farms was undeniable, and it had shifted the dynamic of everything they knew, a shift that was brought back to Achievement City and festered to a hungry, greedy parasitic life.

There was fear, pungent in the air and stinking up the place.

So when Ryan came to him, eyes glinting bright like the sword in his hand and the giant throne room looming behind him, the gold blocks gleaming bright like a beacon (calling to them), Michael only grinned.

 

* * *

 

“Jesus Christ Ryan, you sick bastard!” Michael yells, rage making his face red despite the intimidation and cautious lingering in his eyes.

Ryan chuckles, foot tapping quietly over the glass ceiling he’d made for Edgar’s hole. “I’m keeping him here for your safety. If anything, you’re the sick one for trying to set him free.” He jokes, but the hard line his mouth takes and the furrow between his brows makes the humor fall flat on any ears listening - including his own.

Michael glares at him, spinning on his heel and leaving the Kung Fu House angrily, refusing to stick around any longer in case he caught whatever disease of madness Ryan had caught.

“You’ll see things my way soon, Michael!” He hears Ryan call out, and Michael gives him the two fingered salute in response.

Ryan sighs, looking down at Edgar in his hole and shaking his head.

Scattered across his dirt floor was the broken pieces of Michael’s “Free Edgar 2K13” sign, broken and crumbled like the dusty remains of a skeleton, soon to be forgotten.

 

* * *

 

( Later, much later, when the Kingdom is in shambles and the walls are stained red, Michael will stand with his King on the Throne behind him, and Geoff kneeling at his feet in front of the steps.

“You’re making a mistake Michael.” He says, trying to sway Michael into seeing reason.

But the blood on Michael’s sword tells a different story, and Michael will lean down, a grin playing lazily on his lips.

“Sorry Geoffers.” He whispers to the tune of a diamond blade slicing through muscle and bone, blood painting his boots red and filling the Earth with the promise of something new. There’s a choked gurgle, and Michael lets his sword slowly slide out of the old King’s chest.

“The Mad King sends his regards.”

 

* * *

 

The Kingdom is in panic, a cacophony of terror and chaos as it tears itself apart. There’s no safe place to hide, not anymore, and the smart ones had left long ago, long before the first of the mercenaries had started trickling in. Long before the hint of red began to creep into the Kingdom, infecting them all.

But in the middle of it all, surrounded by death and pain and the screaming of villagers and soldiers alike, there are two people who hear nothing but a distant buzz.

Everything sounds like a symphony, in Michael’s ears.

Ryan kisses his blood stained knuckles - blood that isn’t his own - and Michael tilts his head towards the other man, their gazes meeting.

There’s no fairytale spark, no fireworks, but there is blood smeared across their face and fire beneath their boots, Hell all around them from where they raised it up with the power they held together.

It was much more satisfying than a chemical spark.

“What do you think, if we took this party someplace different?” Ryan asks. His eyes are glinting, whether from the flash of steel in the distance or the manic growing inside. “I hear the North doesn’t find our version of entertainment very enjoyable.”

 Michael stares at Ryan, sees the reflection of all those dying behind them in his eyes, the sky turned red and black with ash and smoke and carbon, fires eating away at flesh and bone.

“I say we prove them wrong.”


	2. The Right Hand To The First

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A few weeks passed, and it almost felt like things were back to normal, sometimes. They would all still go and complete the weekly challenges for the Tower, and Michael was smiling and laughing more, hanging out with Gavin and Ray a little again (even though it never took long for him and Ryan to go off somewhere together. Where, Jack didn't know).
> 
> But there was a heaviness in the air, one that Jack couldn't really explain accurately or completely, but if he had to put a name to it...It felt a lot like suspense. Like they were all hanging by a wire that was fraying, thin cords snapping one by one until they were dangling by only one. 
> 
> It felt like that moment right before you dropped, when all you could do was wait and anticipate the moment it all went to shit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jack's chapter! My first time writing this guy, but I think I did him okay. This chapter is set completely in the past, and offers a little more insight towards the creation of Achievement City and how everyone came to be a part of it. Geoff's chapter, which will be posted after Ray and Gavin's, will offer more background. This is a little choppy in some parts, but it's for a reason. I don't want to delve too much into detail about certain events or people because I'm saving that for future chapters.

“Hey!”

Jack turned around from where he’d been stacking wood on top of the wagon, facing a scraggly-bearded man with tired eyes and heavily inked arms.

“Me?” He asked, his eyebrows drawing together in confusion as he pointed to himself.

“No, the wood. Yes, you!” The voice replied, almost exasperatedly, and Jack stared unimpressed at the scraggly looking man in front of him. He turned around completely to face the man head-on, straightening his posture and flexing his biceps to show off his impressive height and how he was easily three times the size of this guy.

Judging by the look on the guy’s face, it hadn’t slipped by him. “Jesus. Big guy, aren’t ya?” He asked, shoving his hands in his pockets as he scrutinized Jack.

“Or maybe you’re just abnormally small.”  Was Jack’s reply, and the man barked out a laugh.

“Alright, fair enough. Take it easy, big guy. I’m not here to start any trouble.” At Jack’s dubious look, Geoff held out his hand. “Name’s Geoff. You’re Jack, right?”

Jack had stretched out his hand to take Geoff’s hand when he retracted it upon hearing his name. “How do you know my name?” Jack asked sternly. Was this guy following him or something? How stupid was he?

“Burnie told me about you. Burnie Burns?” Upon the look of recognition and realization on Jack’s face, Geoff continued. “We’re old pals. He said that you were really good at building and construction. Figured you’d be a big help to me in that case."

Okay, that was a lot less odd, and Jack relaxed. “Yeah, I am. What do you need me for?” Jack asked. Building and construction was something he could do, after all.

“Didn’t I just tell you? Building and construction.”

“I know, but for what?”

“Oh!” And just like that, a grin spread across Geoff’s face, lazy and self-satisfied. “It’s a bit of a secret. You’ll see it when it’s done, or if you’re as great of a builder as everyone claims you to be, you’ll figure it out beforehand.”

Well, now Jack was curious. What was this guy up to?

“So. Are you my man, or not?”

Jack eyed Geoff.

Well...Burnie had never led him astray so far.

With a sigh and a smile, Jack rolled his shoulders and held out his hand first this time. “I guess I am. Jack Pattillo, nice to meet you, Geoff.”

“Likewise.”

 

* * *

 

It was a few weeks until Jack caught on to what Geoff had planned, and he’d been looking over the blueprints of the construction site when it hit him. Standing on top of Geoff’s half-finished fortress, Jack’s eyes widened.

“You motherfucker!” He exclaimed, and Geoff glanced over at the other man, the neck of his beer bottle cradled between two fingers. Standing up quickly, Geoff cleared his throat and walked over to Jack, trying to look like he’d been working.

“Uh, yeah? What’d I do now, dude?” He asked, peering over down at the land below. There were skeletons of buildings placed down on the ground.

“You’re building a city!” Jack said, sounding almost awed, and Geoff’s lips turned down as his eyebrows scrunched in confusion for a second. He hadn’t been expecting that, so he was a little caught off guard, but eventually he let out a laugh and patting Jack on the back.

“Yeah, dude. Took you this long to notice?” He asked, raising his eyebrows.

“Well sorry. I didn’t think you were stupid enough to try something like this. A _city_. Seriously? And who’s gonna run it, you?” Jack asked, sounding incredulous.

This time, Geoff frowned for real. “Yeah, and so what if I am? You’ve got a problem with that, Pattillo?” He set down his beer bottle and crossed his arms.

“Honestly it’s not my problem, but this is a city, Geoff. You really think you’ll be able to handle it alone?”

“Who said I’m gonna run it alone?”

Jack raised his eyebrows. “You’re going to have someone else help you run it?” He shook his head, a soft chuckle escaping him. “Should have known. You always have to have someone help you do shit for you.” He teased lightly.

“Well keep talking that way and I’ll find someone new!” Geoff exclaimed, and it was Jack’s turn to look confused.

“What the hell? What’s me commenting on your decisions got to do with anything? Like I said, it’s not my problem. Who you pick doesn’t matter to me.”

“You say that now,” Geoff grumbled. “Just wait until you find out who it is.”

Rolling his eyes, Jack set down another block of smoothstone and wiped at his forehead with the back of his hand. “Yeah? Who is it?  _Me_?” He asked sarcastically, and went about setting down another three blocks before he realized that Geoff hadn’t responded yet.

Slowly, Jack set down the stack of smoothstone he’d been holding down on the floor, and looked over at Geoff who had been staring at him silently, a crease between his eyebrows.

“You’re kidding me.” Jack breathed. “You are, right? You’re just fucking with me. You’re not actually thinking-”

“You’d be great, Jack.” Geoff told him, honestly. “You know how to build, you know what tools the City need and how many supplies. You keep a level head when, admittedly, I lose it. I’d be a moron to let you pass by without offering you this chance.” The man shrugged. “I’m not forcing you to take it, and I’m not gonna go down on my knees and beg for you to consider staying and helping me run this place, but I’m letting you know that I _am_ going to offer you the job when we’re done here.”

Jack was speechless, unable to find the use of words. Letting out a breath, Jack shook his head and rubbed at the top of his head. He...really hadn’t been expecting that. It was completely out of left field. He was just a builder - a nobody who people occasionally hired after word of mouth from Burnie let those in need of a worker to construct something for them. Jack wasn’t someone who ran cities.

But...He could be.

Jack let out a gruff grunt as he picked up the smoothstone blocks, and set about placing a few more down again. It wasn’t until he hadn’t heard Geoff move in a few minutes that he turned back to the other man and shoved half of his smoothstone stack in the man’s arms.

“Listen, you’re gonna help me build this fucking tower of yours. If I’m really gonna be running the City with you, it sure as hell isn’t gonna be just me busting my ass.” Jack said, and turned around to hide his grin at the thought.

It wasn’t until Geoff laughed and began to work alongside him that Jack looked over at the City that he could now call home.

 

* * *

 

Months passed, with Achievement City’s completion done, and while there weren’t many people who visited, it was a nice life.

Jack and Geoff were nursing their second beer for the night when Michael stumbled in, dirty and bleeding and with half a heart to spare on his stat meter.

It took a few days for him to wake up, and when he did, he was absolutely feral, nearly choking Jack to death out of panic and confusion. It took Geoff flinging him into a wall to get Michael off, and it wasn’t until Geoff explained to him why he was there, how they’d found him that Michael calmed down and showed faint signs of regret.

Another week passed with Michael working off the debt he’d made in bed and food, with tensions running high between him and Jack after what they’d both mentally labelled “the incident”. And, again, it wasn’t until Geoff knocked their heads together and told them to stop being such sissies and get over themselves that they let go of the past and got along.

Michael worked off his debt within a few days, but days turned into weeks that turned into months, and he showed no signs of leaving.

Gavin was next, coming in with a bang. Literally. He’d blown up part of the City’s outlying region with some TNT, and it wasn’t until Michael caught the sneaky brat with a tight fist and a spittle of angry words that Geoff and Jack gave him a good talking to.

The guy had to pay for the damages, of course, and re-build what he’d destroyed, and while Jack and Michael were annoyed beyond belief by the man, Geoff seemed to really take to the oddly-spoken man. They were always seen hanging around each other, discussing ideas and hypothetical questions.

 A few nights later, Geoff proudly introduced Gavin as the fourth resident to Achievement City, to which Michael replied with a mouthful of soup to Gavin and Geoff’s faces, and Jack gaped in disbelief.

It took a while longer to get used to Gavin, much more time than it took to get used to Michael, and then Ray came along.

 He had been chased by a mob of zombies, and ran into Gavin who eventually started running away with Ray to keep himself alive. They’d gotten knocked around and swiped at a few times, looking for the worst when Michael found them both and the zombies went out with a quick one, two, three slices of his sword.

Needless to say, when Michael went to chew out Gavin for being a dumbass again, he’d caught sight of Ray instead and almost dropped his weapon in surprise.

“Ray?!” He exclaimed, and Ray’s own eyes widened before he gave a meek wave and smile.

“Uh, hey Michael. Fancy seeing you here, huh?” He asked, trying to sound nonchalant despite being out of breath.

Apparently, the two had been close friends beforehand for a few years now, as Ray had explained when the three had made their way back to the City and Ray and Gavin were tended to by Jack.

A silent look passed through the four residents of Achievement City, and they all reached an understanding that didn’t require any words. Geoff nodded, turned to Ray and patted him on the shoulder.

“Well then, welcome to Achievement City, Ray. Your house is over next to Gavin’s on the left.”

Ryan came last, a merchant from the South who had big connections with C.B. Central. Dedicated to his work and skilled in keeping danger off of his back with his wits and charm, Ryan eventually managed to find a fit with the group easily. But it wasn’t until a deal gone wrong that Ryan decided to quit his old job of handling deals between clients and settle in permanently with the other five men.

From there, it was all just simple and easy.

 

* * *

 

Now don’t get him wrong, the Lads were okay in Jack’s books despite the fact that they took every opportunity to shit on him possible, but sometimes their antics just got to be a little too much.

This was one of those days, and Jack heaved out a sigh as he watched the three goof off, completely ignoring the task at hand. Geoff was next to him, dutifully chopping away at a tree.

“Hey, Geoff.” Jack called out, and Geoff paused to look at him. “Remember when it used to be just you and me?”

At this point, the Lads had overheard his little comment, and had fallen silent. Jack felt a little rush of vindication at that.

“I miss those days.”

Geoff’s eyes were twinkling, with mirth and with surprise, and he barely held in his laugh.

There was a cough from behind them, and the Lads shifted on their feet.

“Hey, Jack,” Michael quietly murmured, acting nonchalant. “Remember all the shit and missions you guys _didn’t_ use to have?” He asked, and looked unfazed when Ray and Gavin exploded into “OOOOOH”s and “GOT ‘EM!”s behind him.

“Hey Michael, remember how it was because of Geoff and I that you’re here in the first place?”

“You mean here as in the place that I helped you guys think up of?”

Jack was getting ready to retort when he heard a stifled giggle from behind, and everyone turned their heads to stare at Geoff who was collapsing in a fit of laughter.

“You fucking morons,” he gasped out, tears of laughter beading up at the corner of his eyes. “You’re both pretty ladies, if you want to fight then take it somewhere else some other time, but for now get back to work, dumbasses.”

It was tense for another moment until Gavin burst out into laughter, Ray following soon after, and Jack and Michael were left staring at one another before finally cracking matching grins.

Geoff straightened up, a smirk on his face. “And just to clear things up for you guys, you’re both wrong. If it wasn’t for me, both of your asses wouldn’t be here. _Any_ of you, actually.”

 

* * *

 

Eventually, the addition of the Lads and Ryan was something that Jack and Geoff became accustomed to, and it almost felt like they’d been there from the start. _Almost_. The Lads goofed off together as always, with the Gents watching close by in case they tried to do anything sneaky or run off and be stupid together (well, more stupid than they usually acted anyway). Ryan was criminally good at creating potions and devices to help make their lives easier, even going out of his way once to make a piston that would keep going off in Gavin’s house to annoy the lad.

Michael eventually came up with the idea for Let’s Plays, deciding that things weren’t nearly as exciting around the City as they could have been, and Gavin, drunk off his ass and annoying the _fuck_ out of everyone around them, drunkenly created the Tower of Pimps which he perched himself on top of.

Life at Achievement City became chaotic and busy, with travelers passing through and gathering in crowds every Friday as they watched the crew compete for the Tower, and Geoff and Gavin lamented over the fact that the others had forced them into being the unofficial official builders for future buildings and landmarks.

“Come on man, give us a hand.” Geoff would plead, and Jack would nearly laugh his ass off.

“Tell that to the lava block sitting in the roof of my house, Geoff.” He’d reply, and Gavin would chuff out a laugh of his own as Geoff scowled.

Needless to say, Jack didn’t win the Tower that week.

 

* * *

 

“Ryan, you creepy motherfucker.” Geoff laughs, chortling as he hears the Lads cries of confusion and indignation beneath Ryan’s maniacal laughter.

Nearly all of them are bent over with the force of their laughter after hearing Michael’s story, and Geoff shakes his head when Ryan taps his foot to Edgar’s glass ceiling.

“You sick bastard!” Michael cries out, and Ryan gives a shrug. “He’s in there for _your_ protection. If anything, _you’re_ the sick one for trying to get him out.”

This leaves Michael flabbergasted, but Geoff succumbs to another fit of uncontrollable laughter, with Gavin’s surprised squawks and Ray’s chuckles accompanying it. Jack is standing there, the occasional laugh leaving him as he shakes his head.

“You crazy assholes,” Geoff gasps out, wiping at his eyes from the tears of laughter as he makes his way out of the Kung Fu House. “Sometimes I remember why I fuckin’ let you guys stay here.”

They all trickle out of Ryan’s house, one by one, and as its lights off in Achievement City, none of them are the wiser to Ryan’s thoughtful gaze, and the concentrated look on his face as he stares down at Edgar.

 

* * *

 

“Kneel down, bitches.” Geoff exclaims, and the crowds that had gathered near the throne room cheer, shouts of ‘Long live the King’ and ‘King Geoff!’ filling the other five men’s ears from their kneeling position in front of the throne.

Geoff had officially been crowned King of Achievement City, a City that was not so much a City as it was its own biome now. Several, actually. It had grown to a Kingdom in its population, although the ‘capitol’ of it all was still Achievement City, now renamed ‘Downtown Achievement City’.

Gavin was grinning up at Geoff, with Ray making a few sarcastic quips every now and then. Slowly, all five of them stood up as Geoff smirked down lazily at them all from the Throne, a crown snug atop his head.

“Long live the King!” Jack hears from the right, and turns, startled, to see that Michael had shouted it with a gleeful look on his face.

“Long live the King!” Gavin cheers soon after, and it doesn’t take long for all five them to be shouting it, with the crowds joining in.

Geoff soaks up the attention, although there’s a pinprick of discomfort that he feels, a faint uneasiness creeping into his bones as he looks out at everyone.

It feels like someone’s staring at him, _glaring_ , but he shrugs it off.

He’s King, after all. What does he have to worry about?

 

* * *

 

“Jesus. I don’t want to watch Ryan kill the kid.” Jack murmured, already backing away. There was a fishing rod in his hand, with a fish attached to the hook, and the ocelot that he’d tamed was swiping at it, meowing hungrily.

He heard Ryan’s easy laughter from across his designated area, and Ryan shook his head at Jack, a slight smile on his lips. “I don’t even have a weapon, so I can’t even kill it.” He said with a shrug, his voice almost reassuring, and Jack felt his shoulders slump in relief. There was a collective sigh all around the pens, and Gavin smiled over at his sheep, patting it on the head.

“I could do it.” They heard, and the words were a little static-y at first, muffled by distance, but it caused a silence to fall over everyone nonetheless.

_What? Is that **Michael**? _ Jack was wondering, and he looked over to see Ryan standing still, an odd look on his face as he stared out into the forest beyond.

“Just order me to do it already, Ryan.” Came Michael’s voice, frustrated but eager, and Jack felt a shiver go down his spine. Why the fuck was Michael so excited to kill a kitten? Ryan was supposed to be the creepy guy, not Michael. And from the looks on Ray and Gavin’s faces, they were thinking the same thing too.

But Ryan, Ryan had the biggest grin on his face.

“You wanna do it?” He asked.

“Yeah.” Michael replied, his voice sounding clearer over the radio com. He must be close by. Jack thought.

Letting out a pleased and smug laugh, Ryan lifted his arms, and Jack took a step back as Michael jumped in his pen, diamond sword being drawn.

“Michael.” Ryan said quietly, but his voice carried in the quiet of their company. Jack cringed, looking away as he heard the shrieks of the animals being slaughtered.

“Let it be done.”

 

* * *

 

“Jack. I need to talk to you.” Geoff tells him, and the quick look as Geoff’s eyes dart over to where Michael and Ryan are walking into Kung Fu House tells Jack all he needs to know.

Wordlessly, he ushers them both into his own home, closes the door and faces his King.

“Something’s going on.” He says, beating Geoff to the punch, and Geoff -

Doesn’t even look surprised.

“Yeah. Something big. And it’s not gonna end well.”

Jack swallows. “I’ve got a feeling I already know what it is, but why don’t you explain it to me just so I know for sure?” There’s a pit in his stomach, growing bigger every second, and the look that Geoff gives him when he looks up is disturbing. Not because of any anger, not because of any seriousness, but because of the fear.

Geoff is afraid.

“It’s Moga-Michael.” Geoff catches himself, but looks disturbed that he had to. “Him and Ryan. They’re getting pretty chummy with each other.” He’s hedging around the topic, eyes darting to the window as if to check that no one is listening. That Ryan and his _dog_ can’t hear.

“Geoff.” Jack says, and takes a step closer. “Stop beating around the bush.”

Geoff stares at him, before heaving out a long sigh and rubbing his hand over his face, scratching at his scraggly beard. His eyes look more sunken in than usual, face a little skeletal in its thinness.

“They’re planning something. They’re not right in the head, Jack. First it was Ryan, you know? Fucking around with animals, being creepy...But now it’s Michael, too. You’ve noticed it. _Everyone_ has. Ryan’s gone off the deep end, but Michael … Michael decided to jump in with him.”

Jack shivers a little. Yeah, he’s noticed.

“The worst part is...They’re not even fucking worried. They don’t give a damn that we know. And I know that they know that we know.” Geoff rubs at his face a little more, voice harried and words hurried. “It’s like -- Jesus, Jack. It’s like they fucking _enjoy_ it, watching us squirm.”

Jack knows. He knows all of this, but what he doesn’t understand is -

“Okay. But...why are you telling me this, Geoff? We all know this already. But what’s the point?” There it is again, that pit in his stomach. But there’s a feeling of dread to accompany it now, too.

“The point?” Geoff asks, looking a little distracted. “The point is this.

One of us is going to be dead soon.”

 

* * *

 

Jack lay in his bed, staring up at the wooden ceiling above him before shifting, his gaze turning to the view outside his window. From here, he could see Gavin and Ray’s house, and if he turned his head a little to the side, he could see part of Michael’s, too.

Geoff’s words had been echoing in his mind for days now, leaving a ringing in his ears.

_One of us is going to be dead soon._

When Jack asked what Geoff had meant, where the Hell he’d gotten that idea from, Geoff had refused to answer him, all shifty eyes and a shut mouth.

He’d left soon after, leaving Jack alone in his house with a perfect view of Michael making his way across the logo.

Geoff had paused, and it looked like he and Michael had met gazes, staring at one another for a few seconds before Geoff continued on his way, Michael following soon after.

It was when Michael looked directly at him, a secretive but smug smile on his face that Jack looked away, his heart pounding in his chest.

What had Geoff meant, one of them would be dead soon?

 

* * *

 

A few weeks passed, and it almost felt like things were back to normal, sometimes. They would all still go and complete the weekly challenges for the Tower, and Michael was smiling and laughing more, hanging out with Gavin and Ray a little again (even though it never took long for him and Ryan to go off somewhere together. Where, Jack didn’t know).

But there was a heaviness in the air, one that Jack couldn’t really explain accurately or completely, but if he had to put a name to it …

It felt a lot like suspense.

Like they were all hanging by a wire that was fraying, thin cords snapping one by one until they were dangling by only one.

It felt like that moment right before you dropped, when all you could do was wait and anticipate the moment it all went to shit.

Jack didn’t know how right he was, at that moment.

 

* * *

 

“ _Jack_! Wake up, you bloody idiot!” Someone slapped his face, and Jack sat up quickly, grabbing the person’s hands and flipping them over as he stood over them.

“ _Je_ sus! What was that for?!” He heard, and blinking, Jack saw Gavin’s face in the glow of the night.

“Gavin? What the fuck, dude?! Why’d you slap me?!” He exclaimed, wiping at his sweaty face.

“Why were you sleeping?!” Was Gavin’s retort, and Jack’s face scrunched up in confusion.

“Why was I _sleeping_?” He asked, and took a long, hard look at the British man in front of him. What was that supposed to mean?! “Gee, I don’t know, it’s _night time_. Why would anyone sleep at that time, Gavin?” He asked in response. He rubbed at his nose, trying to get rid of the burning sensation in it. “God, what’s that smell? You _stink_!” Jack exclaimed, covering his nose after coughing a little.

“It’s not me, you mong.” Gavin explained, and Jack woke up enough to realize that he was uncharacteristically serious. “I was asking why you were sleeping because no one in their right mind would sleep at a time like this!”

“Gavin, I’m going to need you to explain to me a little more.” He said, slowly but sternly, and took note of how jittery Gavin was.

“No time to explain, Jack, we need to go. _Now_.”

“No! Not until you tell me what’s going on!”

“Bloody - _WE DON’T HAVE **TIME**!_ I’ll tell you on our way out of the City but for now we seriously need to get a move on!”

There was an itching at his skin, and it felt like Jack was missing something vital, something important. But the fact that they were leaving the City in the middle of the night meant that something was terribly, _terribly_ wrong.

Jack wiped at his face again, wondering why he was so sweaty. God, it was hot tonight. And pretty bright, too.

“Leave the City? What the hell?! Why would we need to leave the City?! Does Geoff know about this? Because-”

“Yes Geoff knows about it! He’s the one who told me to get you in the first place! He and Ray are already halfway across the damn map at this point, with the time it took to wake you up!”

And before Jack could protest, Gavin was pushing him out the door.

Why was it so bright outside? Fuck, did Geoff put up more torches?

He barely had time to let his bleary eyes adjust when he saw the reason for - well, everything.

Achievement City was on fire. _All_ of it, on fire, and judging by the missing dirt blocks at the center of the logo, a dynamite placed right by it and glowing dangerously, there wasn’t much time left before all of it was gone via TNT.

“Jesus,” Jack whispered, horrified.

“We all woke up to it a few minutes ago. At first I didn’t know why I couldn’t breathe until I realized I was, only it was all smoke and not oxygen.” Gavin explained as they quickly rushed off. Gavin was being incredibly sneaky and quiet though, and it was so odd of him. He was taking shortcuts, keeping to dark corners of the city like he was trying to hide himself and Jack.

“Geoff didn’t though. It wasn’t the fire that woke up him. It was Ryan.”

“Thank God.” Jack breathed. “So they’re all out of here then?”

Gavin paused for a brief second, and Jack saw his face go tight. “...Not quite.” He replied, finally.

“What?! You mean someone’s still in there?! You said Ray and Geoff got away, and I’m guessing Ryan did too but what about Michael?! Is he-”

A hand clamped over Jack’s mouth and he saw Gavin’s panicked gaze as he shoved them both into a small cave nearby. It was pitch black in there, and Jack wasn’t sure why he had reacted so oddly until he heard footsteps.

“I know I heard them.” Said a voice, and Jack recognized it as Michael’s. Jack’s gaze darted over to Gavin, who had begun to sweat and looked nervous. The hand over his mouth was shaking a little.

What was going on?

“Are you sure?” Said another voice, and shock went through Jack when he recognized it as Ryan’s. But...wasn’t he out of the city already? Gavin said he was the one who woke Geoff up.

Alright...

Something was obviously wrong here.

“Pretty positive. I’d recognize Gavin’s voice anywhere. Jack’s too. Gavin must have woken Jack up before the fire killed him.”

“But Geoff and Ray made it out.”

There was a brief silence, and Jack was pretty sure Michael was nodding.

“Damn.” Ryan cursed.

“They couldn’t have gone far. We can still catch up to them and-”

“No.” Ryan’s reply was firm and almost venomous, but Michael wasn’t giving in.

“What the fuck do you mean, no!? They couldn’t have gone more than twenty minutes ago. Geoff knows the map but Ray doesn’t, and they’re both stupid as fuck in the dark. We could easily catch up to them and finish the job-”

Jack’s heart was hammering in his chest and he stifled a gasp. What?

“I _said_ , **_no_** , Michael.” Ryan hissed, and Jack heard a thump on the outer wall to his left. There was a choked gasp, and it sounded a lot like Michael. “You’ll do well to not press me and remember who’s in charge here.”

There was a thud this time, like a body hitting the floor, and Jack heard Michael sucking in a breath. If he could see in the darkness, he was pretty sure he'd find Michael glaring over at Ryan with a sword in hand.

“Sure as hell isn't _you_ , asshole." He retorted, and gave a cough. "Whatever. This was pretty much for nothing, then.”

“No. Not quite.”

There was another moment of silence, and as Jack’s vision adjusted to the dark, he saw something that would haunt and terrify him for months to come.

There, in the darkness, right in front of them, was Ryan Haywood.

His face was a mask of maniacal glee.

And it was aimed directly at Jack and Gavin.

And judging by the way Gavin’s grip on his mouth tightened despite his increased shaking, Gavin saw it too.

“I think we got the message across.” Ryan said, and Jack could see Michael’s eyes narrow from where he had stood up, right next to the man.

There was a large boom, and Jack tensed as several more followed in its way.

Achievement City.

It was blowing up.

“Ah. And there it goes. The beginning.” Ryan said quietly. “Let’s go. Our work here’s done.”

Michael nodded, picking up his diamond sword and shoving it in its sheath. “Alright then, psycho. Let’s go.”

They left, the dirt crunching beneath their boots, but Gavin didn’t take his hand off of Jack’s mouth.

They didn’t move for a long time.

But finally, after what felt like hours, Gavin’s hand slipped off of Jack’s mouth and he crumpled down to the floor like a rag doll, breathing heavy and eyes wet.

“ _Michael_ ,” He whispered, sounding so forlorn and broken that it wasn’t funny at this point.

Nothing was.

Ryan, Jack thought, feeling an ache in his heart at what his friend had done, what he’d become.

“Ryan didn’t wake Geoff up to warn him about the fire.” Gavin told him quietly, voice a little shaky, and Jack realized he didn’t want to hear the story. Not anymore.

“He woke him up in the middle of trying to kill him.”

 

* * *

 

Months passed, with no word from Ryan or Michael as Jack, Ray, Gavin and Geoff slowly built up an army.

It had taken a few days after the fire before they returned back to the City. Or what was left of it, anyway. They rebuilt it, reinforcing the buildings and taking precautions. Geoff was more stony eyed, a spark in him lost no matter what Gavin or Jack did to try and cheer him up. Two of the men he'd taken under his wing were gone, after all. Two people he'd considered close friends and almost sons. Two men who tried to  _kill_ him not even a week ago.

A few weeks passed when they got word of Ryan and Michael building an army down in the Southernlands, their numbers already vast and still growing.

"Show those fuckers that we don't need half as much time or preparation to beat their asses into the ground," Geoff hissed, and Jack found himself as the right hand to the King in his coming war.

"Be careful, Geoff. We don't know what they're planning." Jack would tell him, and Geoff would snort.

"Yeah, well neither do they know what  _we're_ planning, either." And with that, Geoff gave Jack a warning look and left the room, his footsteps resounding as he went down the stone stairs.

_Except we're not insane, so we're predictable._ Jack thought to himself, and against his will, his mind wandered back to what Geoff had told him before.

_One of is going to be dead soon._

_Surely that time's passed?_ He thought. Ryan had tried to kill Geoff, and Michael had helped. But Geoff had gotten out of it alive. So no one was going to die now, right?

Looking at the map of the world spread out on Geoff's desk before peering out towards the courtyard where the army was gathering, Geoff at the front of the lines, Jack had a sinking feeling in his stomach that the moment hadn't passed just yet.

 

* * *

 

It didn't take a genius to figure out that they were losing.

Jack sliced through another person, yanking his sword out of the man's chest and looking around frantically. Where was Geoff? He could see Ray and Gavin, side-by-side and fending off a small number of enemy soldiers, but there was no Geoff in sight.

And then he saw it. There, on the Throne, was Ryan, standing with a stoic expression on his face and a bloody crown on his head, dripping red onto his face and staining his armor a rust color.

Down on the ground, in front of him, was Michael with a beaten Geoff on his knees and a sword plunged straight through his chest.

Jack felt the breath leave his lungs, and it was like he lost the ability to think straight. Logic wasn't a friend he knew at the moment, and distantly, Jack was aware of the fact that he was moving, almost dazedly through the battlefield. 

When he got to the Throne room, it was almost deafeningly silent with how far the battle was, and Ryan and Michael were nowhere in sight.

“Geoff,” Jack whispered, grasping at the older man’s shoulder and heaving him up gently, slowly as to not disturb him too much. Geoff gave a weak grunt of pain, his fingers twisting themselves loosely in the fabric of Jack’s shirt.

_One of us is going to be dead soon._

“Told you.” Geoff whispered, as if he’d read Jack’s mind, and Jack clenched his jaw, refusing to believe that the stinging in his eyes was anything other than the smoke in the air.

“Shut up,” Jack told him gruffly, voice a little harsh. “You shut up, no one here’s dying unless it’s those two psychopaths, Michael and Ryan.”

Geoff breathed in, a rattling sound that was fading with every new exhale. “Stop being stupid Jack. We both...know the truth of it all...I’m not gonna make it.”

 Jack wasn’t sure how Geoff could be speaking this way, so calmly and masking his pain beneath indifference.

“Geoff, seriously, you need to shut up. Ray and Gavin should be here soon, they’ve got some food and supplies left, medicine to help with the wound. We can patch you up, okay? You’ll be fine. You’re going to be fine.” He was rambling, words mashing together in his panic as worry overtook him.

“Promise me this.” Geoff told him, as if he hadn’t heard Jack’s words. “If nothing else, promise me this, Jack.”

“Promise you what?”

Fingers tightening their grip, Geoff lifted himself up while pulling Jack down with a strength that Jack hadn’t known a dying -- _injured_ , not dying -- man could possess.

“Promise me they won’t get to Ray and Gavin, or the others in C.B. Central and the Deserts. Promise me you’ll kick their asses to the End and back and make them fucking suffer like they made us.”

The hand on his shirt was shaking, and looking into Geoff’s eyes again, Jack realized he’d been wrong. Geoff had never been calm all this time. He’d been _angry._ Biding his time until his rage and fury was spilling over.

Swallowing, Jack tried to speak beyond the lump in his throat.

_“Promise me, Jack!”_ Geoff shouted, and Jack nearly jumped. Geoff coughed up a thick glob of blood, his fingers slipping as he fought to keep his eyes open.

“I-” Jack stammered, licking his lips. “I-”

Geoff’s eyelids were fluttering, but they had nearly fallen shut now. His grasp on Jack’s shirt was nearly non-existent now, though they dangled from their faint grip.

Geoff was almost out of time, hanging on by a thread.

“I promise.” Jack whispered, his voice firm even though he was shaking.

Geoff never responded, still as the air around them despite the ashes covering the ground like some twisted version of snow.

With a soft, strangled noise, Jack lifted his trembling hand and cupped Geoff’s cheek, fingers fluttering over his eyelids before quickly moving away like he’d been slapped.

Curling up over the dead body of his friend, Jack let out a sob, his hands clenching into tight fists as he ignored the heat of the fire around him, ignored the worried voices of Ray and Gavin in the distance, and ignored the fact that they had to get moving, had to leave before Ryan and Michael came back and saw them all.

  Jack ignored it all, focusing only on what he’d promised Geoff and rage in his bones.

There was a fury coursing through his entire being, focused solely on the two people who’d brought it on, and it would only grow until Jack extinguished the flame mercilessly, killing it without a second thought.

 Just like he’d do to Michael and Ryan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next up is Ray! Get ready for some X-Ray and Vav, people.

**Author's Note:**

> Next up is Jack's part, where things are set in the past. So will Geoff's part, while Ray and Gavin's chapters will be set in the past and then future.


End file.
